Display apparatus including transmissive light source

ABSTRACT

A display apparatus comprises a display panel including a pixel area in which a plurality of pixels is disposed and a peripheral area outside the pixel area; a transmissive light source disposed in a first area of the pixel area; and a timing controller which controls the transmissive light source not to emit light when pixels disposed corresponding to the first area of the pixel area among the plurality of pixels are present in at least one of an image data input period and a pixel light emission period.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/550,120, filed on Aug. 23, 2019, which claims the priority of KoreanPatent Application No. 10-2018-0171779, filed on Dec. 28, 2018, whichare hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposesas if fully set forth herein.

BACKGROUND Field of the Disclosure

The present disclosure relates to a display device, and moreparticularly, to a display apparatus in which a sensor including atransmissive light source is disposed and more particularly, to atransmissive light source which is disposed on a rear surface of anactive area of a display panel.

Description of the Background

In a display apparatus which is used for a monitor of a computer, a TV,a mobile phone, or the like, there are an electroluminescence displayapparatus that self-emits light by and a liquid crystal display (LCD)that requires a separate backlight source, etc.

The electroluminescence display apparatus may include an organic lightemitting diode, an inorganic light emitting diode, a quantum-dot diode,a Perovskite LED, a micro LED, and the like, as an electroluminescentelement.

In recent years, various narrow bezel techniques have been studied inorder to reduce the width of a bezel of the electroluminescence displayapparatus. Accordingly, a sensor using an infrared light source such asa proximity sensor, an illuminance sensor, and/or a face recognitionsensor needs to be disposed in a bezel area. However, there is alimitation in disposing a sensor using an infrared light source due tothe narrow bezel width.

SUMMARY

The inventors of the present disclosure have intended to dispose atleast one of a proximity sensor, an illuminance sensor and a facerecognition sensor using a transmissive light source that transmits adisplay panel on a rear surface of an area overlapping with an activearea of a display panel in order to implement a narrow bezel.

However, the inventors of the present disclosure have recognized thatwhen the transmissive light source is disposed in the active area, thetransmissive light source affects the electrical characteristics ofsemiconductor layers of transistors disposed in a plurality of pixelsdisposed in the active area.

Therefore, the present disclosure provides a display apparatus capableof minimizing the occurrence of malfunctions of transistors disposed ina plurality of pixels even when a transmissive light source is disposedin an active area of a display panel.

The present disclosure is not limited to the above-mentioned aspects,which are not mentioned above, can be clearly understood by thoseskilled in the art from the following descriptions.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the display apparatusmay include: a display panel including a pixel area in which a pluralityof pixels is disposed and a peripheral area of the pixel area; atransmissive light source disposed in a first area of the pixel area;and a timing controller which controls the transmissive light source notto emit light when pixels disposed corresponding to the first area ofthe pixel area among the plurality of pixels are present in at least oneperiod of an image data input period and a pixel light emission period.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the displayapparatus may include: a display panel including an active area in whicha plurality of pixels is disposed and having a light transmittingcharacteristic; and a transmissive light source disposed on a rearsurface of the display panel and configured to supply light emittedthrough at least a part of the active area, in which the transmissivelight source is configured to emit light according to a predeterminedturn-on period, and the plurality of pixels disposed corresponding to anarea in which the transmissive light source is disposed is configured sothat an image data input period and a pixel light emission period areturned off in the turn-on period of the transmissive light source.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the displayapparatus may include: a display panel including an active area in whicha plurality of pixels is disposed; a transmissive light source disposedto overlap with the active area; a gate driver configured to apply afirst scan signal and a second scan signal to the plurality of pixels;and a timing controller configured to control a period in which thetransmissive light source is turned on not to overlap with a period inwhich the first scan signal and the second scan signal of the gatedriver are applied.

According to still another aspect of the present disclosure, the displayapparatus may include: a display panel including an active areaincluding a first area in which a plurality of first pixels is disposedand a second area in which a plurality of second pixels is disposed; atransmissive light source disposed corresponding to the first area; agate driver configured to apply a first scan signal and a second scansignal to the plurality of first pixels and the plurality of secondpixels; and a timing controller configured to control turn on or off ofthe transmissive light source by determining whether the first scansignal and the second scan signal of the gate driver are applied to theplurality of first pixels or to the plurality of second pixels.

Other detailed matters of the exemplary aspects are included in thedetailed description and the drawings.

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to suppressoccurrence of malfunctions of transistors disposed in a plurality ofpixels when a transmissive light source is emitted even though thetransmissive light source overlaps with the active area of the displaypanel.

Further, it is possible to minimize a bezel width of the displayapparatus by disposing at least one of a proximity sensor, anilluminance sensor, and a face recognition sensor to overlap with theactive area.

The effects according to the present disclosure are not limited to thecontents exemplified above, and more various effects are included in thepresent specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features and other advantages of thepresent disclosure will be more clearly understood from the followingdetailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a display apparatus according tothe present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a display panel of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary circuit view of a pixel of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a waveform diagram of a display apparatus according to thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ASPECT

Advantages and characteristics of the present disclosure and a method ofachieving the advantages and characteristics will be clear by referringto exemplary aspects described below in detail together with theaccompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure is not limited tothe exemplary aspects disclosed herein but will be implemented invarious forms. The exemplary aspects are provided by way of example onlyso that those skilled in the art can fully understand the disclosures ofthe present disclosure and the scope of the present disclosure.Therefore, the present disclosure will be defined only by the scope ofthe appended claims.

The shapes, sizes, ratios, angles, numbers, and the like illustrated inthe accompanying drawings for describing the exemplary aspects of thepresent disclosure are merely examples, and the present disclosure isnot limited thereto. Like reference numerals generally denote likeelements throughout the specification. Further, in the followingdescription of the present disclosure, a detailed explanation of knownrelated technologies may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring thesubject matter of the present disclosure. The terms such as “including,”“having,” and “consist of” used herein are generally intended to allowother components to be added unless the terms are used with the term“only”. Any references to singular may include plural unless expresslystated otherwise.

Components are interpreted to include an ordinary error range even ifnot expressly stated.

When the position relation between two parts is described using theterms such as “on”, “above”, “below”, and “next”, one or more parts maybe positioned between the two parts unless the terms are used with theterm “immediately” or “directly”.

When an element or layer is disposed “on” another element or layer,another layer or another element may be interposed directly on the otherelement or therebetween.

Although the terms “first”, “second”, and the like are used fordescribing various components, these components are not confined bythese terms. These terms are merely used for distinguishing onecomponent from the other components. Therefore, a first component to bementioned below may be a second component in a technical concept of thepresent disclosure.

Like reference numerals generally denote like elements throughout thespecification.

A size and a thickness of each component illustrated in the drawing areillustrated for convenience of description, and the present disclosureis not limited to the size and the thickness of the componentillustrated.

The features of various aspects of the present disclosure can bepartially or entirely adhered to or combined with each other and can beinterlocked and operated in technically various ways, and the aspectscan be carried out independently of or in association with each other.

Hereinafter, a display apparatus according to exemplary aspects of thepresent disclosure will be described in detail with reference toaccompanying drawings.

More specifically, a display apparatus 100 will be described in moredetail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 together.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a display apparatus according toan exemplary aspect of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 1, thedisplay apparatus 100 according to the exemplary aspect of the presentdisclosure includes a display panel 110, a gate driver 120, a datadriver 130, and a timing controller 140.

The display panel 110 includes n first scan lines SC1, . . . , SCn and msecond scan lines GC1, . . . , GCm which are disposed in a firstdirection, k data lines D1, . . . , Dk which are disposed in a differentdirection from the first direction, and a plurality of pixels PXL whichis electrically connected with the n first scan lines SC1, . . . , SCn,the m second scan lines GC1, . . . , GCm, and the k data lines D1, . . ., Dk. The plurality of pixels PXL displays an image by a driving signalor driving voltage applied by the first scan lines SC1, . . . , SCn, thesecond scan lines GC1, . . . , GCm, and the data lines D1, . . . , Dk.

The display panel 110 includes an active area AA and a non-active areaNA adjacent to the active area AA.

A plurality of pixels PXL capable of displaying an image is disposed inthe active area AA. Thus, the active area AA may be referred to as apixel area. A light emitting element of the pixel PXL disposed in theactive area AA may be an electroluminescent element. In the exemplaryaspect of the present disclosure, it is described on the assumption thatthe light emitting element of the pixel PXL of the display apparatus 100is an electroluminescent element, but the present disclosure is notlimited thereto. That is, the present disclosure may be applied not onlyto an electroluminescence display apparatus but also to a quantum dotlight emitting display (QLED) apparatus or various other displayapparatuses (for example, a liquid crystal display apparatus).

Further, a transmissive light source may be disposed in the active areaAA. The transmissive light source may be disposed on the rear surface ofthe display panel 110 so as to overlap with the active area AA. Thus,the active area AA may include a transmission area that is an areathrough which light is transmitted by the transmissive light source. Atthis time, the configurations of the pixels PXL disposed in thetransmission area may include transparent materials. The arrangement ofthe transmissive light source will be described in more detail withreference to FIG. 2.

The non-active area NA may be an area disposed around the active area AAand may be referred to as a peripheral area. More specifically, thenon-active area NA may be an area adjacent to the active area AA andsurrounding the active area AA. The non-active area NA is an area whereno image is displayed, and includes signal lines for transmitting asignal to the pixels PXL disposed in the active area AA and a circuitunit for driving pixels of the active area AA. For example, a gatedriver, a data driver, an anti-static element, a signal pad, and asignal link line may be disposed in the non-active area NA.

The timing controller 140 processes properly image data RGB input fromthe outside according to the size and the resolution of the displaypanel 110 and supplies the image data RGB to the data driver 130. Thetiming controller 140 generates a plurality of gate control signals(GCS) and data control signals (DCS) by using synchronizing signals SYNCinput from the outside, for example, a dot clock signal DCLK, a dataenable signal DE, a horizontal synchronizing signal Hsync, and avertical synchronizing signal Vsync. The timing controller 140 controlsthe gate driver 120 and the data driver 130 by supplying the generatedgate control signal GCS and the data control signal DCS to the gatedriver 120 and the data driver 130, respectively.

The timing controller 140 may control the turn-on and turn-off of thetransmissive light source disposed by overlapping with the active areaAA. More specifically, the timing controller 140 may control the lightso as not to be emitted in the transmissive light source in a periodwhere the turned-on first scan signal, the turned-on second scan signal,and the data signal are input to a plurality of pixels PXL disposed inthe transmission area among the plurality of pixels PXL disposed in theactive area AA. More specifically, the timing controller 140 controlsthe transmissive light source disposed in the active area AA to beturned off when the turned-on first scan signal, the turned-on secondscan signal, and the data signal are applied to the pixels PXL disposedin the transmission area. On the other hand, the timing controller 140may control the transmissive light source to be driven similarly to therelated art regardless of the turn-on or turn-off of the transmissivelight source in an area which does not overlap with the transmissivelight source in the active area AA, that is, the active area AA which isnot the transmission area. Accordingly, in the display apparatus 100according to the exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, thetransmissive light source is disposed to overlap with the active areaAA, thereby minimizing the damage of the pixel PXL due to the lightemitted by the transmissive light source even though the transmissivelight source is disposed to overlap with the active area AA whilereducing the bezel width.

The gate driver 120 supplies the first scan signal and the second scansignal to the n first scan lines SC1, . . . , SCn and the m second scanlines GC1, . . . GCm in accordance with a gate control signal GCSsupplied from the timing controller 140. Here, the first scan signal andthe second scan signal may be referred to as one gate signal.

The data driver 130 converts the image data RGB into a data voltageaccording to a data control signal DCS supplied from the timingcontroller 140 and supplies the converted data voltage to the pixel PXLthrough the k data lines D1, . . . , Dk.

The display panel 110 in which the transmissive light source is disposedin the display apparatus 100 configured above will be described in moredetail with reference to FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a display panel of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 2, a transmissive light source IR is disposed on therear surface of the display panel 110 according to the exemplary aspectof the present disclosure. The rear surface of the display panel 110means the rear surface of a display surface on which the image isdisplayed. That is, since the image of the display apparatus 100 isdisplayed on the front surface of the display panel 110, that is, on thedisplay surface, the rear surface is a surface on which the image is notdisplayed, that is, a surface opposite to the display surface.

The transmissive light source IR outputs light of a specific wavelengthfrom the rear surface of the display panel 110 to the display surface ofthe display panel 110. The output light may be transmitted through thedisplay panel 110. The transmissive light source IR may be a lightsource configured to have a wavelength of one of visible light,ultraviolet light, and infrared light. The transmissive light source IRmay be an infrared light source. The transmissive light source IR may beconfigured by a light emitting diode (LED). However, the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto.

The transmissive light source IR is light that may be transmittedthrough the display panel 110, and the display panel 110 is configuredto provide a predetermined transmission area. For example, a spacebetween a pixel and a pixel is configured to have transparency, so thattransmissive light may be transmitted through the display panel. Forexample, a bank surrounding each pixel may be formed between the pixeland the pixel. Thus, the bank may be made of a material havingtransparency.

At least one of the transmissive light sources IR may be disposed on therear surface of the display panel 110. An area through which the lightemitted by the transmissive light source IR is transmitted in the areaof the display panel 110 may be defined as a transmission area FA. Sincethe light output from the transmissive light source IR may betransmitted through the display panel 110, the light may be supplied tothe display surface of the display panel 110. Since the transmissivelight source IR overlaps with the active area AA, the width of thenon-active area NA, particularly, the bezel, may not be increased.Therefore, even if the transmissive light source IR is further disposedon the display panel 110, the width of the bezel may not be increased.The transmissive light source IR may be a light source constituting aproximity sensor, an illuminance sensor, and a face recognition sensor.That is, at least one of the above-described sensors may be disposed onthe rear surface of the active area AA of the display panel 110.However, since the exemplary aspect of the present disclosure has thecharacteristic to solve the problem caused by the correlation betweenthe transmissive light source IR and the pixel PXL, hereinafter,detailed description of the operation of the sensors will be omitted,and the correlation between the transmissive light source IR included inthe sensor and the pixel PXL will be described in detail.

The display panel 110 is a panel in which an image is implemented, andpixels PXL for implementing an image and circuits, lines, and componentsfor driving the pixels PXL may be disposed in the display panel 110.

The display panel 110 is configured to include an active area AA and anon-active area NA. A plurality of pixels PXL is disposed in the activearea AA as an area in which the image is displayed. In the active areaAA, pixels PXL for displaying an image and a circuit unit for drivingthe pixels PXL may be disposed. For example, when the display apparatus100 is an electroluminescent display apparatus, the pixel PXL mayinclude an electroluminescent element. Hereinafter, for convenience ofexplanation, it is assumed that the display apparatus according tovarious exemplary aspects of the present disclosure is a displayapparatus 100 including an electroluminescent element, but the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto. The plurality of pixels PXL may bearranged in a matrix form.

The pixels PXL may include a red pixel, a green pixel, and a blue pixel,or may include a white pixel, a red pixel, a green pixel, and a bluepixel.

The non-active area NA is an area in which no image is displayed, and isan area in which circuits, lines, and components for driving pixels inthe active area AA are disposed. Various ICs and driving circuits, suchas a gate driver and a data driver, may be disposed in the non-activearea NA. For example, various ICs and driving circuits may be mounted inthe non-active area NA of the display panel 110 by a gate in panel (GIP)method or connected with the display panel 110 by a tape carrier package(TCP) or chip on film (COF) method.

Each of the plurality of pixels PXL or one pixel PXL disposed in theactive area AA may be connected with the first scan signal lines SC1, .. . , SCn, the second scan signal lines CG1, . . . , GCm, the data linesD1, . . . , Dk, and a high potential power supply line VDD.

The first scan signal lines SC1, . . . , SCn may be configured to have nlines, which are signal lines for providing a first scan signal to eachof the plurality of pixels PXL. Here, n is a natural number of 1 orgreater.

The second scan signal lines GC1, . . . , GCm may be configured to havem lines, which are signal lines for providing a second scan signal toeach of the plurality of pixels PXL. Here, m is a natural number of 1 orgreater.

The data lines D1, . . . , Dk may be configured to have k lines, whichare signal lines for providing a data signal to each of the plurality ofpixels PXL. Here, k is a natural number of 1 or greater.

The number of the first scan signal lines SC1, . . . , SCn and thenumber of the second scan signal lines GC1, . . . , GCm may be the sameas each other. However, it is not limited thereto, but the number of thefirst scan signal lines SC1, . . . , SCn and the number of the secondscan signal lines GC1, . . . , GCm may be different from each other. Forexample, a specific signal line may further include a dummy signal lineas needed at the end of the active area AA.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary circuit view of pixels of FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is awaveform diagram of a display apparatus according to an exemplary aspectof the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 3, an exemplary pixel PXL may be configured to includea light emitting element OLED for displaying an image, transistors T1,T2, and Td, and a capacitor Cst. More specifically, the pixel PXL mayinclude a driving transistor Td, a first transistor T1, a secondtransistor T2, a storage capacitor Cst, and an electroluminescentelement OLED. However, the structure of the pixel PXL according to theexemplary aspect of the present disclosure is merely an example, and thepresent disclosure is not limited thereto. In addition, the exemplaryaspects according to the present disclosure may be modified by applyingvarious pixel structures known to those skilled in the art.

The exemplary pixel PLX may be connected to the first scan signal linesSC1, . . . , SCn, the second scan signal lines CG1, GCm, the data linesD1, . . . , Dk, and the high potential power supply line VDD.Hereinafter, an upper left pixel PXL of the active area AA illustratedin FIG. 1 will be described as an example.

The electroluminescent element OLED of the pixel PXL is illustrativelyshown as an organic light emitting diode, but the present disclosure isnot limited thereto and may be implemented with various light emittingelements. The electroluminescent element OLED may include an anodeelectrode connected to the driving transistor Td, a light emitting layerformed on the anode electrode, and a cathode electrode formed on thelight emitting layer. The cathode electrode may be referred to as a lowpotential voltage electrode VSS.

The gate electrode of the first transistor T1 of the pixel PXL may beelectrically connected to the first scan line SC1. In addition, one sideof a channel of the first transistor T1 may be electrically connected tothe data line D1. In addition, the other side of the channel of thefirst transistor T1 may be electrically connected to the gate electrodeof the driving transistor Td.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the first transistor T1 may be turned on oroff by a first scan signal SCAN #1 applied through the first scan lineSC1. In addition, when the first transistor T1 is turned on, image dataapplied through the data line D1 may be input to the driving transistorTd. The first scan signal SCAN #1 may be supplied through a gate driver(not illustrated) that may be disposed in the non-active area NA of thedisplay panel 110. However, the arrangement position of the gate drivermay be disposed on a separate printed circuit board instead of thenon-active area NA. The gate driver may be configured to include aplurality of shift registers. The gate driver may be connected to thefirst scan lines SC1, . . . , SCn and the second scan lines GC1, GCm.

That is, the first transistor T1 means a transistor configured toperform a function of inputting image data to the driving transistor Td.More specifically, the first transistor T1 may be a switchingtransistor.

The gate electrode of the driving transistor Td may be connected to thefirst transistor T1 and one side of the channel of the drivingtransistor Td may be connected to the electroluminescence element OLED.The other side of the channel of the driving transistor Td may beelectrically connected to the high potential voltage line VDD.

The storage capacitor Cst may be disposed between the gate electrode ofthe driving transistor Td and the anode electrode of theelectroluminescent element OLED. In addition, the image data input whenthe first transistor T1 is turned on is stored in one electrode of thestorage capacitor Cst in a floating state while the first scan signalSCAN #1 is turned off. The amount of current supplied from the drivingtransistor Td to the electroluminescent element OLED may be determinedaccording to the stored image data.

That is, the driving transistor Td means a transistor configured toperform a function of supplying a current amount corresponding to theimage data stored in the storage capacitor Cst to theelectroluminescence element OLED.

The gate electrode of the second transistor T2 may be electricallyconnected to the second scan line GC1. In addition, one side of achannel of the second transistor T2 may be electrically connected to thehigh potential voltage line VDD. In addition, the other side of thechannel of the second transistor T2 may be electrically connected to theother side of the channel of the driving transistor Td.

The second transistor T2 may be turned on or off by a second scan signalGC #1 applied to the second scan line GC1. In addition, when the secondtransistor T2 is turned on, a high potential voltage may be supplied tothe driving transistor Td through the high potential voltage line VDD.The second scan signal GC #1 may be supplied through the gate driverthat may be disposed in the non-active area NA of the display panel 110.The gate driver may be configured to include a plurality of shiftregisters.

The second transistor T2 may be turned on by the first transistor T1after the image data is stored in the storage capacitor Cst. Inaddition, in a state in which the second transistor T2 is turned on, theelectroluminescent element OLED may display the brightness correspondingto the image data.

That is, the second transistor T2 means a transistor configured toperform a function of switching a high potential voltage supply to thedriving transistor Td. As a result, the second transistor T2 performs afunction of turning on or off the electroluminescent element OLED byswitching the high potential voltage line VDD. A turn-on period of theelectroluminescent element OLED may be adjusted according to the turn-onduty of the second scan signal GC #1.

When a first scan signal SCAN #1 of the turn-on voltage is suppliedthrough a first scan line SC1 disposed in a first row of the displaypanel 110, the first transistor T1 of the pixels PXL connected to thefirst scan line SC1 is turned on. That is, the pixels PXL correspondingto the first pixel row are turned on and the image data may be input tothe pixels PXL in the first pixel row through the data lines D1, . . . ,Dk during the turn-on period. The image data may be supplied through thedata driver which may be disposed in the non-active area NA. However,the arrangement position of the data driver may be disposed on thenon-active area NA, but it is not limited thereto and may be disposed ona separate printed circuit board. The data driver may be configured toinclude a digital to analogue converter (DAC) that converts digitalimage data into an analog voltage. The data driver may be connected tothe data lines D1, . . . , Dk.

In addition, when a first scan signal SCAN #2 of the turn-on voltage issequentially supplied through a first scan line SC2 disposed in a secondrow adjacent to the first row of the display panel 110, the firsttransistor T1 of the pixels PXL connected to the next first scan lineSC2 is turned on. That is, the pixels PXL corresponding to the secondpixel row are turned on and the image data may be input to the pixelsPXL in the second pixel row through the data lines D1, . . . , Dk duringthe turn-on period.

In addition, when a first scan signal SCAN #3 of the turn-on voltage issequentially supplied through a first scan line SC3 disposed in a thirdrow adjacent to the second row of the display panel 110, the firsttransistor T1 of the pixels PXL connected to the next first scan lineSC3 is turned on. That is, the pixels PXL corresponding to the thirdpixel row are turned on and the image data may be input to the pixelsPXL in the third pixel row through the data lines D1, . . . , Dk duringthe turn-on period.

As such, the first scan signals SCAN #1, SCAN #n are sequentiallytransferred from the first scan line SC1 of the first row of the displaypanel 110 to the first scan line SCn of the last nth row. That is, thepixels PXL of each pixel row may be configured to sequentially receivethe image data.

The above-described operation may be sequentially applied to theremaining pixel rows. Accordingly, the image data may be input to thepixel area AA of the display apparatus 100.

When the transmissive light source IR is transmitted through thetransmission area FA through which the transmissive light source IR istransmitted, the channels of the pixels PXL corresponding to thecorresponding area may be influenced by the transmissive light source.

For example, when light is supplied to the first transistor T1, theelectrical characteristics of the channel of the first transistor T1 maybe varied and the turned-off first transistor T1 may be turned on.Therefore, erroneous image data may be input to the pixel PXL.

For example, when light is supplied to the second transistor T2, theelectrical characteristics of the channel of the second transistor T2may be varied and the turned-off second transistor T2 may be turned on.Thus, the turned-off electroluminescent element OLED may be turned on.

For example, when light is supplied to the driving transistor Td, theelectrical characteristics of the channel of the driving transistor Tdmay be varied, and the amount of current supplied to theelectroluminescent element OLED may be different from the image data.Therefore, the quality of the image may be deteriorated. In other words,a semiconductor layer of each transistor may be formed of a siliconsemiconductor and/or an oxide semiconductor layer. When light issupplied to the semiconductor layer by a photoelectric effect of thesemiconductor layer, a leakage current may be generated through thesemiconductor layer. However, the present disclosure is not limited tothe material of the semiconductor layer, and various semiconductor layermaterials having the photoelectric effect may be applied. The amount ofleakage current may be proportional to the amount of light. Therefore,the transistors exposed to the transmissive light source IR maymalfunction. That is, the pixels PXL overlapping with the transmissionarea FA may malfunction when the transmissive light source IR is turnedon, thereby lowering the reliability of the display apparatus.

The display apparatus 100 according to the exemplary aspect of thepresent disclosure may be configured to include a display panel 110including a pixel area AA in which pixels PXL arranged in a matrix aredisposed and a peripheral area NA, and a transmissive light source IRconfigured to supply light that is transmitted through the transmissionarea FA of the active area AA. In addition, an image data input periodof the pixel area AA corresponding to the transmission area FA, that is,a period where the first scan signal is turned on and a pixel lightemission period, that is, a period where the second scan signal isturned on may be set not to overlap with a period where the transmissivelight source IR is turned on.

According to the above-described configuration, even if the transmissivelight source IR is turned on, the pixels PXL of the transmission area FAare not affected by the light of the transmissive light source IR.Therefore, even if the active area AA of the display panel 110 overlapswith the transmissive light source IR, the image quality of the displayapparatus 100 may not be deteriorated and the width of the bezel may bereduced.

Since the plurality of pixels PXL of the active area AA other than thetransmission area FA is not affected by the transmissive light source IReven through the transmissive light source IR is turned on during theimage data input period and the pixel light emission period, the turn-onperiod of the transmissive light source IR may overlap with at least apart of the image data input period and/or the pixel light emissionperiod.

According to the above-described configuration, the plurality of pixelsPXL of the active area AA other than the transmission area FA may setthe image data input period and the pixel light emission periodirrespective of the turn-on period of the transmissive light source IR.

In some exemplary aspects, the pixel PXL may be configured to furtherinclude an initialization circuit, a threshold voltage compensationcircuit, and the like.

The initialization means a step of initializing the image data stored inthe storage capacitor connected to the driving transistor for inputtingnew image data. The initialization period of the pixel PXL correspondingto the transmission area FA may be set to non-overlap with the turn-onperiod of the transmissive light source IR.

The threshold voltage compensation means a step of compensating for thethreshold voltage deviation of the driving transistor Td for each pixelto improve the image quality. The threshold voltage compensation periodof the pixel PXL corresponding to the transmission area FA may be set tonon-overlap with the turn-on period of the transmissive light source IR.

For example, one pixel may operate in the order of the initializationperiod, the threshold voltage compensation period, the image data inputperiod, and the pixel light emission period. However, the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto.

According to the above-described configuration, even if theinitialization period and the threshold voltage compensation period areadded, the initialization period and the threshold voltage compensationperiod of the pixel PXL corresponding to the transmission area FA areset to non-overlap with the turn-on period of the transmissive lightsource IR, so that there is an effect that the quality of the image maynot be deteriorated.

In some exemplary aspects, various functional members may be disposedbetween the display panel 110 and the transmissive light source IR.

For example, a back plate may be disposed. When a substrate includingthe display panel 110 is made of a plastic material such as polyimide(PI), a manufacturing process of the display apparatus is performed in astate that a support substrate made of glass is disposed below thesubstrate and after the display panel 110 is formed, the supportsubstrate may be released. The support substrate may be a glasssubstrate. However, since a component for supporting the substrate isrequired after the support substrate is released, a back plate forsupporting the substrate may be disposed below the substrate. Further,the back plate may protect the display panel 110 from external moisture,heat, impact, and the like.

For example, a heat dissipation plate may be disposed on the rearsurface of the back plate. The heat dissipation plate may emit the heatof the display panel 110 to improve the lifespan and reliability of thedisplay panel 110.

For example, a touch panel may be further disposed on the display panel110. The touch panel is a device for sensing a touch input of a usersuch as a screen touch or a gesture on the display apparatus 100, andthe touch panel may use a resistive film type, a capacitive type, anoptical type, or an electromagnetic type.

A display apparatus according to various exemplary aspects of thepresent disclosure may be described as follows.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided adisplay apparatus. The display apparatus comprising the display panelincluding a pixel area in which a plurality of pixels is disposed and aperipheral area of the pixel area; a transmissive light source disposedin a first area of the pixel area; and a timing controller whichcontrols the transmissive light source not to emit light when pixelsdisposed corresponding to the first area of the pixel area among theplurality of pixels are present in at least one period of an image datainput period and a pixel light emission period.

The timing controller may be controlled the image data input period andthe pixel light emission period of at least some of the plurality ofpixels disposed corresponding to a second area which is an area exceptfor the first area in the pixel area to overlap with a light emissionperiod of the transmissive light source.

The second area may be an area through which the light emitted by thetransmissive light source is transmitted.

Each of the plurality of pixels may include an electroluminescentelement that emits light for displaying an image, a first transistor forswitching supply of image data, a driving transistor configured tosupply a predetermined current corresponding to the supplied image datato the electroluminescent element, and a second transistor for switchingsupply of a high potential voltage supplied to the driving transistor.

At least one of the first transistor, the second transistor, and thedriving transistor may be configured to include a semiconductor materialwhose electrical characteristics are varied by the light emitted by thetransmissive light source.

The display panel may include a first scan line configured to switch thefirst transistor, a data line configured to supply the image data to thedriving transistor through the first transistor, a second scan lineconfigured to switch the second transistor, and a high-potential powersupply line electrically connected to the second transistor, which areelectrically connected with the one pixel.

The image data input period may be a period where the first scan line isturned on and the image data is applied to a gate electrode of thedriving transistor, and the pixel light emission period is a periodwhere the second scan line is turned on, the second transistor is turnedon, and the electroluminescent element emits the light by the currentsupplied through the drive transistor.

The pixels disposed in the first area among the plurality of pixels mayinclude a transparent material so that the light emitted by thetransmissive light source is transmitted.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provideda display apparatus. The display apparatus comprising: a display panelincluding an active area in which a plurality of pixels is disposed andhaving a light transmitting characteristic; and a transmissive lightsource disposed on a rear surface of the display panel and configured tosupply light emitted through at least a part of the active area, inwhich the transmissive light source is configured to emit lightaccording to a predetermined turn-on period, and the plurality of pixelsdisposed corresponding to an area in which the transmissive light sourceis disposed is configured so that an image data input period and a pixellight emission period are turned off in the turn-on period of thetransmissive light source.

The display apparatus may include at least one of a proximity sensor, anilluminance sensor, and a face recognition sensor configured to includethe transmissive light source.

The display panel may be configured so that a space between one pixel ofthe plurality of pixels and the other pixel disposed adjacent to the onepixel has transparency and configured so that the transmissive lightsource is transmitted through the display panel.

The transmissive light source may be an infrared light source.

Each of the plurality of pixels may include a first transistor, a secondtransistor, a driving transistor, an electroluminescent element, and astorage capacitor, the first transistor is configured to perform animage data input function to the driving transistor, the drivingtransistor is configured to perform a function of supplying a currentamount corresponding to image data stored in the storage capacitor to acurrent light emitting element, and the second transistor is configuredto perform a function of adjusting a turn-on period of theelectroluminescent element.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, there isprovided a display apparatus. The display apparatus comprising: adisplay panel including an active area in which a plurality of pixels isdisposed; a transmissive light source disposed to overlap with theactive area; a gate driver configured to apply a first scan signal and asecond scan signal to the plurality of pixels; and a timing controllerconfigured to control a period in which the transmissive light source isturned on not to overlap with a period in which the first scan signaland the second scan signal of the gate driver are applied.

The pixels to which the first scan signal and the second scan signal ofthe gate driver may be applied among the plurality of pixels are pixelsdisposed in an area disposed to overlap with the transmissive lightsource.

The first scan signal may be a signal for controlling image data to beinput to the pixel, and the second scan signal is a signal forcontrolling a high potential voltage to be applied to a light emittingelement formed in the pixel.

The transmissive light source may be disposed on a rear surface of thedisplay panel.

According to still another aspect of the present disclosure, there isprovided a display apparatus. The display apparatus comprising: adisplay panel including an active area including a first area in which aplurality of first pixels is disposed and a second area in which aplurality of second pixels is disposed; a transmissive light sourcedisposed corresponding to the first area; a gate driver configured toapply a first scan signal and a second scan signal to the plurality offirst pixels and the plurality of second pixels; and a timing controllerconfigured to control turn on or off of the transmissive light source bydetermining whether the first scan signal and the second scan signal ofthe gate driver are applied to the plurality of first pixels or to theplurality of second pixels.

The timing controller may be controlled the transmissive light source tobe turned off when at least one of the first scan signal and the secondscan signal is applied to the plurality of first pixels.

The timing controller may be controlled the transmissive light source tobe turned on when the first scan signal and the second scan signal areapplied to the plurality of second pixels.

Although the exemplary aspects of the present disclosure have beendescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, thepresent disclosure is not limited thereto and may be embodied in manydifferent forms without departing from the technical concept of thepresent disclosure. Therefore, the exemplary aspects of the presentdisclosure are provided for illustrative purposes only but not intendedto limit the technical concept of the present disclosure. The scope ofthe technical concept of the present disclosure is not limited thereto.Therefore, it should be understood that the above-described exemplaryaspects are illustrative in all aspects and do not limit the presentdisclosure. The protective scope of the present disclosure should beconstrued based on the following claims, and all the technical conceptsin the equivalent scope thereof should be construed as falling withinthe scope of the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A display apparatus comprising: a flexiblesubstrate including a pixel area and a peripheral area outside the pixelarea; a plurality of pixels is the disposed on the pixel area includinga first area where a transmissive light source is overlapped and asecond area which is an area except for the first area and a data line,a first scan line, a second scan line and a high potential power supplyline which are electrically connected to each of the plurality ofpixels, wherein at least one of the data line, the first scan line, thesecond scan line and the high potential power supply line overlap withthe first area.
 2. The display apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of theplurality of pixels comprises: an electroluminescent element that emitslight for displaying an image; a driving transistor connected to theelectroluminescent element and configured to supply a predeterminedcurrent corresponding to the supplied image data to theelectroluminescent element; a first transistor including gate electrodeconnected to the first scan line, one side of a channel thereofconnected to the data line and the other side of the channel thereofconnected to the driving transistor; a second transistor including gateelectrode connected to the second scan line, one side of a channelthereof connected to the high potential power supply line and the otherside of the channel thereof connected to the driving transistor; and astorage capacitor disposed between a gate electrode of the drivingtransistor and an anode electrode of the electroluminescent element. 3.The display apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a back plate forsupporting the flexible substrate disposed below the substrate.
 4. Thedisplay apparatus of claim 3, further comprising: a heat dissipationplate disposed on the rear surface of the back plate.
 5. The displayapparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a touch panel disposed on theflexible substrate for sensing a touch input of a user.
 6. The displayapparatus of claim 1, wherein pixels disposed in the first area amongthe plurality of pixels include a transparent material so that the lightemitted by the transmissive light source is transmitted.
 7. The displayapparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a bank surrounding each of thepixels disposed in the first area among the plurality of pixels made ofa material having transparency.
 8. The display apparatus of claim 1,further comprising: a dummy signal line disposed at the end of the pixelarea.
 9. The display apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a gatedriver connected to the first scan line and the second scan line anddisposed in the peripheral area.
 10. The display apparatus of claim 1,further comprising: a timing controller which controls the transmissivelight source and the plurality of pixels.
 11. The display apparatus ofclaim 10, wherein the timing controller controls an image data inputperiod and a pixel light emission period of a plurality of pixelsdisposed in the first area not to overlap with a light emission periodof the transmissive light source, and wherein the timing controllercontrols an image data input period and a pixel light emission period ofa plurality of pixels disposed in the second area to overlap with thelight emission period of the transmissive light source.
 12. The displayapparatus of claim 11, wherein the image data input period is a periodwhere the first scan line is turned on and the image data is applied toa gate electrode of the driving transistor, and wherein the pixel lightemission period is a period where the second scan line is turned on, thesecond transistor is turned on, and the electroluminescent element emitsthe light by the current supplied through the drive transistor.
 13. Adisplay apparatus comprising: a flexible substrate including a pixelarea and a peripheral area outside the pixel area; a transmissive lightsource disposed on a rear surface of the flexible substrate; a pluralityof pixels is the disposed on the pixel area including a first area wherethe transmissive light source is overlapped and a second area which isan area except for the first area and wherein pixels disposed in thefirst area among the plurality of pixels include a transparent materialso that the light emitted by the transmissive light source istransmitted.
 14. The display apparatus of claim 13, further comprising:a space between one pixel of the plurality of pixels and the other pixeldisposed adjacent to the one pixel in the first area has transparency.15. The display apparatus of claim 13, wherein the second area is anarea through which the light is not emitted by the transmissive lightsource is transmitted.
 16. The display apparatus of claim 13, whereineach of the plurality of pixels further comprises: a first transistorfor switching supply of image data; a driving transistor configured tosupply a predetermined current corresponding to the supplied image datato the electroluminescent element; and a second transistor for switchingsupply of a high potential voltage supplied to the driving transistor.17. The display apparatus of claim 16, wherein at least one of the firsttransistor, the second transistor, and the driving transistor includes asemiconductor material having electrical characteristics varied by thelight emitted by the transmissive light source.
 18. The displayapparatus of claim 13, wherein the transmissive light source isconfigured to emit light according to a predetermined turn-on period,and where the plurality of pixels disposed in the first area isconfigured so that an image data input period and a pixel light emissionperiod are turned off in the turn-on period of the transmissive lightsource.
 19. The display apparatus of claim 13, wherein the displayapparatus includes at least one of a proximity sensor, an illuminancesensor, and a face recognition sensor configured to include thetransmissive light source.